


Jayce's Passion Project

by Himitsu3



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, M/M, Manipulation, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Consensual Touching, Pretty Fucked Up, Yandere!Jayce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-07 02:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19075504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himitsu3/pseuds/Himitsu3
Summary: Jayce isn't letting Viktor out of Piltover again.





	1. Chapter 1

Jayce brought his mercury hammer down on the last gollum, the metal casing sinking into the flesh of another junkie who’d tried to kill him with a satisfying squish. Viktor was trying to kill him. Jayce ran after him, the shorter cyborg man booking it up a set of metal stairs and into the rest of the workshop. Jayce threw out an acceleration gate and shot the top of the stairs, halting Viktor in his tracks as the top of the stairs collapsed with the raw energy. The cyborg turned to face him, wielding his staff and staring with disbelieving eyes behind a metal mask as Jayce who approached the ruined stairs with a bright smile on his face.

“You’ve lost it. Those people were going to live if you hadn’t shown up.“ His voice was monotone, robotic. Jayce hated it. Viktor paused, moving down a few steps as the broken metal stairs squeaked and groaned underneath his weight. “You’re wrong, Vik.” Jayce’s voice was light and airy, his face had a bright smile. Viktor hated that nickname. “You’re hurting people, you’re the reason they died.” Viktor felt a cool sweat down his neck, one of the few places he didn’t dare operate on himself. He glanced back, debating if he could make a jump off the end of the stairs and pull himself up onto the upper level of the workshop. “Jayce, step back. I don’t want to fight you.” “I don’t want to fight you either, Vik, but you stole my crystal. You used it to make monsters.” Jayce’s face looked sad, as though he were disappointed in Viktor. 

Viktor knew there was no arguing with Piltover’s poster boy. He threw himself over the edge of the rails, dangling himself over the lower workshop floor before dropping down ten feet. It hurt, but Viktor had anticipated it. He erased fear, and whirled around to face Jayce, readying his staff as the man shifted the weight of his hammer transforming a cannon into a glorified mallet. Viktor threw out a laser along Jayce’s feet, backing up and attempting to put space between them, but Viktor hadn’t really faced combat. He had always prepared, but lacking experience in the field he was surprised when Jayce leapt into the air above him and brought down the hammer on his metal arm, hard. Viktor began to brush off the shock, steeling his emotions but the onslaught didn’t let up as a field of electricity emanated from the hammer- bouncing off of Jayce’s special armor and conducting down the exposed innards of Viktor’s metal hand. 

Viktor stilled on the floor, his head slumping to the side as he stared blankly after the literal shock coursed through his modifications. “If you didn’t do this to yourself, it wouldn’t have hurt, Vik. I’m sorry.” Viktor moved his eyes to watch Jayce’s face twist to concern. Viktor attempted to move, but the hammer was now on his chest, resting it’s enormous weight on already damaged armor. “I’ll fix you up. Don’t worry.” Viktor was about to retort when he felt something prick his neck. The world was getting blurry, and Viktor thrashed and snarled. Jayce shushed him, cooing “don’t fight it,” as he stood up, towering over Viktor and leaning his weight on the mercury hammer. Viktor could only squeak out ‘bastard’ as he lost consciousness. 

 

He woke up strapped to a cot, never a good thing. A steady beeping rang in his ears, a telltale sign of a heart rate monitor. Viktor could feel thick restraints holding him in place, and it even seemed his head was locked into place by a strap around his forehead. He did not have his mask on. In the corner of his vision, he could see a window- and the architecture of the view from Piltover’s Institute stretched beyond the glass. Next to the small pot of flowers on the windowsill, an IV drip ran clear liquid down a tube, presumably into his arm. He wiggled a bit, testing his restraints. His right arm was riddled with pain as he moved it, and his left refused to move at all. Perhaps it had short circuited in the shock field. His legs were also quite sluggish. He was stuck somewhere in the Piltover Institute with one fully functioning arm that hurt like hell. A new sensation flooded him- something he hadn’t felt since he’d made the modifications to his head a while back. Fear. 

He was not supposed to feel fear. It was the enemy, the reason so many panicked and died miles underwater on what should’ve been normal shifts of cleanup crew, why miners made it more difficult for rescuers by trying to scrabble their way out of cave-ins, and it was something Viktor had eliminated a long time ago. If he could feel fear now, it meant that Jayce was fucking with his modifications. Pieces fell into place- he had completely modified his left arm, so if they were removed he would have a dead limb. His legs were weak since he was a boy, and the modifications helped him with stability and endurance. His right arm was the only one that had no real invasive mechanics inside. He was right handed, and didn’t want to operate on his right hand until he had become fully comfortable with his third arm, which was entirely gone at the moment. 

He knew he should be planning his next move, but overwhelmed with emotions he hadn’t felt for months- Viktor panicked. The heart beat monitor spiked, and he knew that was only going to cause problems too but he couldn’t stop. He was breathing too fast, and he felt claustrophobic- the walls were closing in and he had none of his machines to help him. He was disciplined, and he ignored the small feminine voice in the room and shut his eyes. He breathed in and out methodically. He convinced himself he was alright. He could always get back to his lab and fix himself, after all it was what he’d been doing for years. 

“-seems to be calming down now, I think it’s the first time he’s woken up here, though.” Ah yes, there were people in the room now. He opened his eyes. A petite young woman in a lab coat  stood next to the bed glancing at the monitoring equipment and jotting notes onto a clipboard. Across the room, at the foot of his bed a lanky figure with thick bottleneck glasses read the charts at the foot of the bed. “Oh, good morning. Sorry you had a little scare.” The women was addressing him. Viktor turned to her and glared- hoping his rude reputation still existed here and hoping he could take advantage of that. He made to speak, but his voice came out in barely a whisper. “Release me.” “What?” Viktor raised his voice, but before he made it past the first syllable he found himself coughing and sputtering. “Don’t try to speak.” The man, now. “Says here you had an operation on your vocal cords.” Ah, so Jayce made to rip out all of his modifications, then. 

The door suddenly swung open, and Jayce stepped in. “Im here, what happened?” The women spoke up- “He was thrashing and struggling for a moment, but he seemed to calm down.” Jayce nodded. “Is that all?” The man and women exchanged looks- “You can go now. I’ve got this handled.” The pair looked questioningly at each other but left the room. Viktor was tempted to let himself panic again and draw them back in with the heart rate monitor. “Hey Vik. Sorry I wasn’t here. I wanted to welcome you back to Piltover but I had some notes to pour over.” Jayce spoke as though it was any other day. He pulled a manilla folder from his jacket and slid out various documents halfway, bright pink sticky-notes peeking over the top of the envelope. Jayce took one out entirely, and spun it around to reveal Viktor’s blueprints for his right arm. 

“Glad I got you before you mutilated your last limb- well, too much anyways.” Viktor bristled at the statement- his modifications were not mutilations! He opened his mouth to retort but only a hiss of air steeped out. “You shouldn’t speak. Why did you change your voice anyways? It’s going to take forever to heal back.” Viktor glared. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m only doing what’s best for you.” Jayce was approaching the head of Viktor’s bed now, looking down at the man with an expression Viktor couldn’t quite pinpoint. Jayce crouched next to the bed.  “You’re brilliant.” Jayce blinked at him. Viktor blinked back. “I wish you hadn’t left. I should’ve known telling the institute about you wasn’t the right move.” Viktor stared up at him. Jayce did not admit that he was wrong. Ever. His voice was barely a whisper. Jayce leaned in to hear it. “Why am I here.” Jayce leaned away to look at Viktor’s face after he spoke, clicking his tongue. 

“I wanted you back, Vik.” 

“You’ve torn out my enhancements.”

“I wanted you back. Not this robot you’re trying to become.”

“The institute never allows operations without full consent.”

“You’re mentally unwell. I- no, We had to get the modifications out before they hurt you.”

Jayce pulled more documents from the envelope. Neat red pen was inked over his notes and plans, calculations that the mechanisms would tear and hurt the user as their wounds tried to heal. Circling design flaws that Viktor had already worked out. Jayce hadn’t brought more than half the notes on his designs. “Those are all problems I fixed already.” Jayce smiled at him sweetly, cocking his head to the side- “of course you did, Vik.” “No, truly you must’ve seen my modifications look nothing like those notes anymore, you removed them-“ He paused, panting with the effort of speaking so much. “Viktor…” Jayce’s hand was in his hair, stroking the wild brown locks as Viktor squirmed and coughed. “…it’s your word against mine. And you’re mentally unwell, after all.” Viktor froze. He was lying. He must’ve lied through his teeth to the Institute about the designs, too. Mentally unwell. Viktor was perfectly sound- he was not mentally unwell, but anything he said would be put into question if Jayce told them he thought Viktor was after working on a project for months with him. 

“Why?”

A hand ran through his hair, and Viktor looked up to see Jayce smiling over him. “This time you’ll stay with me.” Jayce’s hand lowered down his face stroking his cheek. “I’ll make sure you never hurt yourself like this again.” Jayce moved forwards, and despite stretching away Viktor could not avoid the chaste kiss pressed on his cheek. “I can take care of you here. You can heal here. You can rest here, Viktor.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Jayce pulled away from Viktor, rubbing his shoulder a bit before standing up. “You’d work yourself to death if we let you.” Viktor stared in disbelief as Jayce’s face twisted back into a normal smile. “Anyways, are you hungry, Vik?” Viktor refused to answer. Strangely, he was not hungry. Jayce collected Viktor’s blueprints and returned them to the manilla envelope. Idly walking over to the foot of his bed and skimming over Viktor’s charts. “Eating through a tube for three weeks would make me pretty desperate for some solid foods.” 

Viktor started coughing horribly- his mind working on overdrive. Three weeks?! That was enough time for his entire lab to be ransacked and robbed- without him or the gollums that Jayce had destroyed there to protect his work, the alarm he had was useless. His mind reeled. It would be like Blitzcrank all over again- anyone could stroll in pick a project and turn it in with about as much effort as a goddamn elementary science fair. Viktor panted, trying to catch his breath after his fit. “Three weeks?” He weazed. Jayce was already at his side, rubbing his arm in concern. “Viktor…” “Three weeks- my work! Jayce all my work!” 

Jayce looked at him sadly. “You’ve only just woken up and all you can think about is work…”  Viktor’s voice was just above a whisper as he rasped out- “You dolt, my lab is undefended! Anything of mine can just be taken on a whim!” Jayce was running his fingers through Viktors hair in mocking comfort. “Not much left to take, Vik. After you blew up your lab with that crystal-”

“I did not blow up my lab” 

“It was an accident, Vik. It’s okay.” 

“No I didn’t-” 

“After you blew up your lab with the crystal, most of the works were gone. I was lucky to find your mutilation’s blueprints.” Viktor glared at him. He was torn apart- he would have to start over, again. After leaving Piltover when Blitzcrank…  _ happened,  _ it had taken him months to build his lab back to where he was happy with it. All of that was gone, because of Jayce’s stupid interference with things he didn’t understand. Viktor had never been so-  _ frustrated.  _ Was his vision blurring? Did that happen with anger? 

“Viktor, love…” Viktor turned his face as much as the restraints allowed when Jayce reached for his face. He felt warm liquid stream down his own cheeks before realizing that  _ he was crying. _ Viktor hadn’t cried in frustration since he was fourteen- not even when Blitzcrank was taken. Jayce was covering him now, leaning over Viktor and giving him a hug. “Get off of me.” Viktor stayed stock still. “Viktor, it’s okay to cry. You don’t need to-” “ _ Get. Off. _ ” Viktor hissed more than spoke. Jayce sighed, and pulled away. 

Viktor found himself staring at the ceiling enraged. More tears spilled from his cheeks, and he had no control over them. He could feel Jayce’s eyes watching him, and he sniffled, waiting for the horribly unpleasant experience to end. The creaking of the door didn’t seem to matter now as Viktor thought of his lab. 

“Are you ready to- Oh my, is he alright?”   
“He’s exhausted. I told him how long he’d been out for.

“Oh. I’ll come back later-”  
The door squeaked again before leaving the room in silence. 

“Viktor. I’m sorry. I tried to save some of your work, but I really think you’re going to need a break from work for a while.”   
“Leave me alone.”

There was a sigh from across the room.

“I’m sorry, Vik, but we needed you awake for a reason.” 

“What now? Need another robot to-” Viktor sobbed, and took a moment to recollect himself- “steal?” 

“Viktor, no. We have to show up for a meeting with the Institute over your criminal charges.”

Oh. He had stolen the power source to try and save those people. Even if he meant to return it, that was a useless notion now that the crystal itself was destroyed. He felt more tears coming- he was in no state to show up, how in the world was he supposed to defend himself as a  _ crying and sniveling mess?  _

“We have a couple hours, and I pulled some personal favors to minimize the press and the public, and we have a judge I know.” 

Oh, goodie. This maniac had a plan to deal with the Institution, as per usual. 

“I’m not pressing charges, but the crystal wasn’t fully owned by me despite me leading the studies on it, so we’re defending you from the Institute.” 

Viktor closed his eyes, trying to control his breathing.  _ Wasn’t pressing charges-  _

“How much time?”

“Three hours. Enough time to eat, and relax some. Viktor, let me help you.”

Viktor froze up when he felt Jayce’s hands against his face, but he relaxed some where he realized the restraints were being removed. Jayce helped Viktor sit up in bed, and smiled at him. “There, better?” Viktor scoffed. “Where are my modifications, I can’t walk very long like this.” Jayce gave him a sad smile- “we’ll worry about that in a bit. First…” He moved to grab something obscured by the bed- revealing a paper coffee cup. He walked over to Viktor, and offered it. Viktor shook his head.   
“I want nothing to do with you.” Jayce’s face dropped before twisting into a smile. “Viktor, it’s important to be able to lean on your friends when things like this happen.” Viktor blinked at him, was he being serious? “We are not friends. You attacked me-” Jayce cut him off “-your golems attacked me first. Neither of us wanted to fight.” Viktor recalled Jayce’s smile as he towered over him- trapping him under his hammer.  He was breathing heavily, and Jayce’s touching him was not helping. It took him longer than it should, but eventually Viktor managed to calm himself down.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve waited to mention the Institute.” Jayce was rubbing Viktor’s back now. Viktor shoved him with his good arm and glared. “You will return me to Zorn, Jayce.” Jayce sighed, clutching at the coffee cup. “Let’s handle things here, first.” He smiled again, and offered Viktor the cup. “It’s still warm, have some.” Viktor didn’t reach for it. 

“I demand to see what notes you made on my blueprints.”

“Viktor I only pointed out design problems.”   
“You’re twisting my work- I demand to know what you plan to bring into the Institutes office.” 

“I’m not twisting it!” Jayce’s tone was angry. He gripped Viktor’s right hand and yanked it towards himself, Viktor yelped in pain. “You hurt yourself with your obsession for evolution. Your modifications stunted every other limb you have, and you don’t seem to care.” Viktor tried to move his hand away. Jayce wouldn’t let it go, instead turning it over and shoving the coffee cup in it. “Have some.” He let him go, and Viktor simply held the cup on his lap. Viktor didn’t want to argue with Jayce- he knew the man was stubborn. He wouldn’t understand that Viktor preferred to rely on technology he understood, as opposed to his own flimsy biology. 

Viktor sat silently while Jayce thumbed through his blueprints, every now and again looking up at Viktor and smiling. Fucking lunatic. Viktor found himself lost in thought- what in the world was Jayce planning to say for the Institute? Could he demand the modifications be shown, to prove he had outdated blueprints? He looked up when Jayce gasped- realizing he had idly sipped the drink. It was sweetmilk- he could faintly taste cinnamon, too. He frowned, and looked at Jayce who was holding up the folder to cover his mouth. He set the cup on the bedside table after that. He stayed still, not moving when the women returned with a wheelchair and removed his IV. He didn’t struggle when Jayce picked him up and sat him in the chair, but he did rheel away when he felt Jayce press a kiss into his hair. 

“Viktor, I’ll be there the whole time, so don’t worry.” 

Viktor just stared ahead as he was wheeled into the hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really should stop :P


	3. Kept

The Institute looked as bland as ever, and Viktor would’ve insisted to walk himself if he wasn’t wearing a casual jacket over a hospital gown with only the flimsy gown and a thick blanket covering his legs on the wheelchair. He would insist on proper clothes later- for now he wanted to see what ‘personal favors to minimize’ half the Institute would mean. He didn’t recognize the judge, but he did see Sherif Caitlyn sitting at a bench inside the small stuffy room. Viktor was wheeled in front of a small desk, and Jayce sat next to him. The Institute representative, evidenced by her badge,  was basically sitting across from them at a table the same height. It was all so  _ casual _ \- Viktor hoped they would still stick to formalities despite the off atmosphere. 

He was disappointed when instead of formally announcing everyone, the representative simply ran her fingers through her hair and picked up a document in front of her. “Lets cut to it, Jayce why are you proposing an alternative to prison time?” “Treasurer Rodney-” Viktor did a double take-  _ a fucking treasurer? How was any of this legal?  _ “-I would like to keep Viktor out of the prison system on account of his mental unwellness. I propose he stays on house arrest with regular visits with a therapist and-” “Mental unwellness? Where is your proof?” Viktor coughed after interjecting, voice burning. “Adjourned.” She didn’t even blink at Viktor. ”Jayce, I’ve read your proposal. I want to know why.”  

“Rodney, his talents would be wasted in prison. He’s a genius, and I was his closest friend.” 

“So you want to keep a buddy out of jail? And what of the explosion he caused in Zaun?”

Ah, so she was missing some details. 

“The explosion was an accident- anybody who hadn’t studied the crystal would have made the mistake. What’s important is that Viktor gets help- He’s really hurting himself- did you read the blueprints?”   
“Yes. Eventually these designs would tear into flesh, so they were removed, no?”

“Yes, but it goes deeper. Viktor routinely overworks himself- it’s no wonder he stole the crystal, his mental health is in shambles. You should’ve heard him, muttering like a madman before blowing up his lab.” 

Viktor pondered defending himself. Rodney had completely ignored him, and a quick glance around the room reminded him that he was not a popular figure.  _ Actually the explosion killed about a hundred Zaunites. Jayce caused the explosion.  _ It seemed ridiculous, and Viktor had enough trouble communicating his thoughts to people as it was let alone a judge in charge of his fate. If he let Jayce defend him, then he could be a wanted madman in Piltover and slip away resume his work in Zaun, afterall his reputation was already in the mud.  _ His work.  _ Viktor thought of his destroyed lab- was it even worth trying to defend himself? 

Rodney made a noise in her throat, and shuffled some papers around. Jayce stood and moved around the table, pulling some papers to the front and waiting for her to skim them. “You can see he works longer hours than most people are awake for.” Viktor peered over the table, catching a glance of a record of who was in the lab at what time. After Blitzcrank was stolen, Viktor always prefaced group projects with enough distrust to require someone to always be with the project, and keeping strict track of schedules helped with that. He didn’t expect his scheduling would bite him in the ass one day. 

What would he say if they let him speak? Viktor looked down at his functioning arm, still wrapped in bandages, and his other arm in a sling across his chest. He tried to figure what Jayce must’ve done- he got them both out of the lab in time to escape unscathed. He’d removed Viktors enhancements, or otherwise convinced someone to remove them. He woke him up the day of his trial- not a moment sooner- to bring him disoriented and drowsy. He’d  _ kissed _ him- 

“-allowed out of Piltover, as I fear he will go right back to work and increase his madness this way.” Viktor payed attention. Caitlyn was speaking- “we can certainly handle house arrest, but Jayce why would he stay with you?” Viktor spoke up, moving forward to make sure the treasurer could hear him. “I would much rather stay at an institution. I feel I would recover faster there.” So he was doing this then. Pretend to be mentally ill in some way, and get back to his work. 

“He would just escape those places, that’s why he wants to go to them. I’m well equipped to look after him at my house, after all I’ve had a few weeks to fix up the place.” Viktor looked to Jayce, who stared ahead smiling at the judge. What had the cocky idiot said? Something about staying with him this time? Viktor wanted to melt the smile off his face with some chemical waste- he’d been the one to get him kicked out of the Institute, and now he was insisting that he stay with him? 

The judge sighed, running her hand through her hair. She had tired eyes, and Viiktor wondered if Jayce had scheduled the herring in May on purpose so she would be tired from all the project budget proposals due in. He remembered that hellish season back when he was part of the institution. He wouldn’t put it past him to do so. 

Rodney adjusted her glasses and skimmed some more papers, a few distinctly ‘not blueprints or work schedule' sheets catching Viktor’s eyes. “What are those?” Rodney looked up, acknowledging Viktor for the first time. “Testimonials from people who worked with you.” “May I see them?” She couldn’t exactly say no, so she passed documents she’d already re-read that day to him.

Most of the interviews read as accounts of his ramblings on human emotion and the obsoleteness of their involvement in projects, the other half seemed to talk about how unapproachable he was. Several mentioned his lack of human interaction- something people of Piltover seemed to think life was impossible without. Needless to say it framed Viktor poorly. Then again they weren’t asking his side of the story- when did that happen? 

Viktor watched in slow motion as something was signed by the treasurer and Sherif Caitlyn before the whole room of people seemed to pack up rather quickly.  Jayce spoke quickly to some other official in the room- “I’ll come back to pick up my copy tomorrow,” and then Viktor was being wheeled out the door. Caitlyn escorted them back to the police station, whereupon a thick silver band was strapped to VIktor’s arm, a quick sketch was taken of his maskless face, and Jayce received a temporary document attributing responsibility of Viktor to him. Despite asking, Viktor was not given a copy of the paperwork. 

Despite the panic he felt, Viktor found himself quite tired by the time they wheeled up to Jayce’s small house- one Viktor knew he seldom used. Jayce had a cot in the corner of his lab where he had slept when Viktor had been staying with him. Jayce smiled down at Viktor- “I’m sorry, but I have to carry you up. I don’t have a ramp.” Viktor bristled. He didn’t intend to stay long anyways, and he knew it would be illogical to instal one but he couldn’t stop himself from making the childish comment- “Then build one.” Jayce chuckled and moved to put his arms behind Viktors back and under his knees. The machine herald swallowed his pride and only struggled a little bit as Jayce carried him through the threshold of the house and put him on a small couch. 

He took in as many details as he could while Jayce retrieved the wheel chair. The house smelled like a cleanup crew had been through, evidenced by the dustless fixtures that Viktor knew Jayce hadn’t climbed up to touch. The parlor he sat in had a direct view into a small kitchen, and a bathroom next to it. A hallway ran the other direction presumably to the rooms. The house was well within Jayce’s means, and Viktor knew he would never keep a place at all if it weren’t for the acute necessity of an address for packages the Institution would be less than happy with keeping. 

Viktor found himself struggling to stay awake on the stiff show furniture, exhausted from a release from the hospital and a court trial in the same damn day. He watched Jayce walk into the kitchenette and clunk around while contemplating his leave. With his legs in this condition, Viktor would need to wait until he had the right opportunity. He could wait until Jayce left him alone, afterall his lab wasn’t getting any less destroyed. 

Jayce came back with another mug of presumably sweetmilk, offering it to Viktor with a smile. Viktor took the cup but didn’t drink. Watching Jayce as he fidgeted, presumably not knowing what to do. 

“Jayce, what do you want from me?” Viktor watched Jayce’s eyes avert to the floor, before he faced Viktor again. He opens his mouth and closes it again, seeming to contemplate what to say. “I tried for a while to figure out what I felt about you, Vik.” He starts, leaning back in his chair and ceasing fidgeting. 

“After you left I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I could never tell if you’d liked me when we worked together, and I never knew if you enjoyed those projects.” He pauses, and Viktor finds himself scratching a bit at his arm in it’s sling. “I realized I didn’t just enjoy working with you, I liked- you, Vik. I really do like you a lot. When I found out what you were doing to yourself- I kept tabs on you, as I’m sure you did me- I got worried.” Jayce was standing now, closing the gap and sitting next to Viktor on the couch. “I had to stop you. When I found the crystal I was distracted for a while, but then,” Jayce pauses to laugh, “...the thing brought you to me!” Jayce looked into Viktors eyes, suddenly the intimacy of what he was saying sinking in to Viktor’s skin. “It has to be fate. We’re meant to be with each other.” 

Viktor blinks at Jayce a moment, and Jayce stares back. “I stole your rock because I needed it to save lives.” Jayce’s smile is replaced with a scowl. “Let’s not talk about that.” Jayce shut down Viktors attempt to bring logic into the conversation- leaving Viktor fumbling in the dark. Jayce’s reasoning was irrational, and entirely made of emotion Viktor did not understand. He thought for a moment on Jayce’s words, trying to make sense of it all when he became acutely aware of his own vulnerability of this moment. He was in the house of a man who had drugged him and operated on him without consent, who then talked his way into being legally put in charge of Viktor, and Viktor was alone with him. 

Jayce stood up when he realized Viktor wasn’t going to talk to him, turning to the smaller inventor and offering a hand. “Come with me to the kitchen. I’ll make us something to eat.” Viktor didn’t take his hand, but Jayce didn’t seem to accept that and grabbed it anyways. To avoid hurting his arm further, Viktor stood when Jayce tried to pull him to his feet, and found his legs much weaker than anticipated. Relying on augmented legs for so long would do that to muscles, and Jayce swept in to basically catch him, Viktor leaning heavily on him as they made the short journey into the kitchen.

To Viktor’s surprise, it seemed well used. A small breakfast table sat along a wall by a box window with paperwork and a small bookshelf, full of both published works and what he recognized as formatted papers bound with ribbon and hole punches instead of a spine. Jayce moved to sit Viktor across from the workstation, and began puttering around the kitchen, pulling out bowls and pots and whatever else. Jayce didn’t cook.

“I picked up cooking when I realized you would be staying with me.” Jayce seemed to answer Viktor’s unspoken question. “Is skewers alright with you? I’ve been enjoying grilling them lately.” Skewers were a Zaunite dish, born of necessity to be able to cook literally whatever was lying around over an open flame. There wasn’t a place in Piltover that served them. “Sure.” Viktor’s voice was small with his sore throat, and he wished Jayce would just piss off already so he could get out of here. Jayce was talking about some friends of his, and how he was hoping they would want to visit so VIktor could meet them, and other things Viktor didn’t care about. Instead, he dragged a project folder closer to himself from across the table and flipped it open, skimming the proposal for funding on a half baked idea about window tint that would remove harmful rays. If the horrendous explanation Viktor was reading was all they had to show, he hoped the project would die in development. “Oh, uh- that’s some of Rodney’s work. I’m helping her out a bit.” The folder was taken from Viktor’s hand, and placed back in a neat pile of things that Jayce moved on top of the cluttered bookshelf. 

Viktor watched Jayce cook with half-lidded eyes. As tired as he was, his stomach did growl now with the smell of peppers and some kind of glaze Jayce kept stirring. Not long after, Jayce set a plate of skewers in front of him and a tall glass of sauce between them as he sat down across from Viktor. Once again, Jayce dominated conversation- filling Viktor in on details he really didn’t care for. “So, we were all down in this, well- practically gutter, right? And Samarah’s filter isn’t doing shit about the fumes, and we all know it-” Jayce paused, shoving his entire skewer into the glass of sauce and taking a hunk of meat off the end- “and so we’re all breathing this stuff, and suddenly Amara is laughing for no reason at all- well it turns out that Samrah’s formula masks helped to convert the fumes into  psychoactive, so I’m the only one not going crazy…” Viktor stops listening at this point, setting down his last skewer. “Jayce.” He interrupts. “What’s up?” “I’m tired.”

Jayce escorts Viktor to his room upstairs, basically carrying him the whole way but Jayce doesn’t mind. The loft is comfy and well-insulated, and he doesn’t want Viktor to be able to roam the whole ground floor before he trusts the man not to make a break for it. He wouldn’t lose him again. Viktor puts up quite the fuss, but Jayce manages to convince him to sleep in the pajamas he bought him, and he’s almost disappointed as Viktor treats him with a level of professionalism as the smaller man leans on him while changing. He leaves once Viktor’s in bed, and moves downstairs to watch him fall asleep from a series of mirrors arranged to view his Viktor’s room. He watches him toss for a while, half reading terrible proposals Rodney should have to deal with, and half gazing at Viktor’s small, adorable self. When the man finally does fall asleep nearly an hour later, Jayce moves upstairs and gives him a mild sedative to keep him down for a while longer. 

He knows he shouldn’t, but Jayce finds himself cuddled around the smaller man, running his hands through his hair as he rests with artificial sleep. He’ll be out long enough for Jayce to sleep and wake before him, so Viktor’s never alone. Viktor is the best, and Jayce is so happy he’s here with him. Before he leaves for his own room, he sprays a bit of his cologne onto the sheets near Viktor’s face- he’d read a study about mice responding nicely to handlers that gave them scarves worn around their wrist to make nesting material with, and he hopes it holds true for himself and Viktor. He gives Viktor’s hair a final pet before he leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Clap* Next *Clap* Meme

**Author's Note:**

> So. I listened to the Viktor lore, and after getting the other half of the story, really question Jayce a lot. So I wrote something where he's unquestionably the bad guy. 
> 
> Also, you guys want more of this?


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